Li Galli islands are a tiny archipelago of three islands ( Gallo Lungo, La Rotonda, and Dei Briganti) located right in front of Praiano and Positano. The biggest one, Gallo Lungo, is the only one which has been inhabited by the Romans., as the ruins of an ancient Domus also demonstrate, and it resembles a dolphin in shape.
The first to tell of these islands was Strabo, a Greek geographer of the 1st century BC in his “Geography”, identifying them as the headquarters of the mermaids and giving them them the name of Sirenai or Sirenussai.
Even the name, Li Galli (The Rosters), is in fact linked to these mythological figures, who in the ancient Greek iconography were represented as creatures with the body of a bird and the face of a woman. The mermaid, as we know it today, with the body half human and half fish, derives from the Medieval tradition and from the Nordic myths.
There are many stories and anecdotes about these fascinating creatures, but the most famous one is certainly the legend of Ulysses and his encounter with the sirens in the Mediterranean Sea, where they lived.
The Homeric myth tells that the archipelago offered refuge to Partenope, Leucosia and Ligia, the three sirens who seduced the sailors with their amazing voices, until they lost control of their ships, drawing them against the rocks. According to the Legend, Ulysses, thanks to the stratagem of being tied to the mast of his ship, was thus able to cross the sea of sirens unharmed.
The timeless charm of these mysterious creatures has inspired and continues to inspire art and painting.
Also in our ceramics we wanted to re-propose this theme so strongly connected to our territory, giving life to furnishing and decorative objects with a contemporary design.
